The smell of pancakes lured young Hobson into the translation office.
There his father Poka and several others were working with Lloyd
Milligan to translate the New Testament into their Mangseng language.
When Lloyd's wife, Ruth, prepared a snack for the team, it was likely that
young Hobson would show up for a bite or two.
That was the 1990's. The New Testament has been completed and on July
1, 2000 it was dedicated by the people in a festive celebration. The 2,500
Mangseng speakers of West New Britain Province now have the New Testament in their heart language.
In order to encourage a wider use of the Mangseng New Testament in the local churches, SIL asked Poka to
come to a Church Engagement training course in June 2012. His
response was, "I'd like to come, but I'm too busy. I'll send my
son instead."
At the Church Engagement training course, participants saw the
power of God's Word in the heart language to transform lives
and they saw the importance of using the mother tongue
Scriptures in the churches. Attending this workshop was a
turning point for Hobson. It was the first time he himself caught
the vision for using the local language Scriptures. He told the
leaders of the course, "This is really important!"
In July of 2013, Hobson attended a Key Terms Workshop to learn more about
translation principles. Together, the representatives of nine language groups
considered the best way to express key words in their language. They wrestled with
Biblical terms such as forgiveness, love, honour, sin, sacrifice, holiness, and
divination. They will return to their people to test the words for meaning and
understanding. Each day they also learned creative ways to present the need for local
language Scriptures. Hobson is now using those lessons to share his vision of Bible
translation with the Mangseng churches.
When he was a child, Hobson was lured to the
translation office by the smell of pancakes. Today
he again wants to return to the translation desk.
This time, however, what pulls him there is not the aroma of pancakes,
but a desire to translate the Old Testament for his people. Although Poka
died in early 2013, Hobson carries on his father's dream that one day the
Mangseng people will have the complete Bible in their language.
At times, fictitious names are substituted for the real names. For more information on this release, contact,The PNG Experience, PO BOX 413, EHP 444, Papua
New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-4431 or Email: ThePNGexperience@gmail.com
Pictures do not always depict actual event, activities or people.
“Yumi Stori” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for “Let’s talk” or “Let’s have a conversation”